The Large Catechism – part 45
Lessons in the Lutheran Confessions
Scripture Text: Romans 8:32
Series: Lessons in the Lutheran Confessions
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From the Confessions: The Large Catechism, The Ten Commandments
The First Commandment
You shall have no other gods before me.
So, you can easily understand what and how much this commandment requires, namely, that one’s entire heart and confidence be placed in God alone, and in no one else. For to have God, you can certainly see, is not to lay hold of him with our hands or to put him into a purse or lock him in a chest. To apprehend God is when the heart lays hold of him and clings to him. Clinging to God with the heart is nothing more than to trust in him entirely. For this reason, he wishes to turn us away from everything else that exists outside of him, and to draw us to himself because he is the only eternal good. It is as though he would say, Whatever you sought before from the saints, or however you have trusted in mammon or anything else, expect it all from me. Regard me as the one who will help you and pour out upon you richly all good things.
Pulling It Together: We should, without any difficulty, be able to expect from God alone all good things, for he has given us the greatest gift already. He has provided for us forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life through his Son. Since the Father has bestowed on us the best of all gifts through his Son, how could we not expect from him every other good? He is our Father, and a loving Father as well.
Would you go next door and ask the head of that household for something that your own father could and would provide? It would be incredibly rude, perhaps to your neighbor, but especially to your own parent. You have laid hold of the most giving Father, through faith in the loving grace of God. You may trust him for all temporal needs, since he has already provided that which is the only eternal good. The First Commandment requires such trust.
Prayer: Thank you for all of your loving gifts, Father, but especially for the gift of your Son. Amen.
Prayer: Help me trust in you, good Lord, for all good things. Amen.
Click here for resources to learn the Ten Commandments.
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Rev. Dr. Mark E. Ryman has served as Pastor for St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Salisbury, NC, since 2021. Previously, Pastor Ryman served congregations in North Carolina and Ohio, as well as a call to specialized ministry with Sola Publishing.
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